JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Feb. 19, 2025) – Under the new lights at Freedom Hall, Quimari Peterson was simply lights-out.
Peterson posted his second career double-double with 29 points and a career-high 13 rebounds to propel ETSU to a 65-49 win over UNC Greensboro on Wednesday at Freedom Hall. The senior point guard also hit a career-best seven threes on 13 attempts and crossed 1,000 points for his college career and his ETSU career in the same night. Karon Boyd reached double-digit points for the third time in four games with 10 on 4-of-8 shooting and ETSU’s defense held UNCG to a season-low in points and their lowest field goal percentage of SoCon play at 35.8%
The Buccaneers (16-12, 9-6) hit three of their first four shots to take an 8-3 lead, but the Spartans (18-10, 11-4) got a three point play from Demetrius Davis and a three from Donovan Atwell in quick succession to take a 9-8 lead, and Miles Jones hit a three to make it a 9-0 run that lasted nearly three minutes before a second-chance three for Peterson got the Bucs back within one. They retook the lead at 17-16 when Gabe Sisk hit two free throws, and Davion Bradford added to it with a pair of makes at the line less than a minute later.
Peterson kicked it into another gear with a fadeaway three from the left wing followed shortly after by a steal on a jumped route Peterson ran out for a layup to keep the Bucs ahead 24-21 that delivered Peterson his 1,000th career point, including his six at Indiana State.
The ball was falling every which way for Peterson. He gathered a loose ball and spotted up for three with 4:19 left in the half, then Allen Strothers, returning after earlier leaving the game with an apparent knee injury, scooped up a loose ball in the back court and ran it out for a three-point play, converting the free throw to match ETSU’s largest lead at 30-25 with 3:52 left to the break.
Jordan Saizonou tied the game at 32 with a three pointer with just over a minute left in the half, and Peterson and Boyd both missed chances in the final 10 seconds that sent the game to the intermission with that same score.
DJ Hughes gave the Bucs the lead with the first two points of the half at the free throw line, then it was back to Peterson.
He hit a three from the left side off an assist by Gabe Sisk, then drained a right-corner three to give the Bucs their largest lead at 40-32. The first three gave him 1,000 points as a Buccaneer, becoming the 44th 1,000 point scorer at ETSU and just the seventh to do it in his first two seasons with the program.
Allen Strothers put the Bucs up double digits for the first time with a pull-up jumper from the left side of the lane with 12:52 to go, and Peterson added to it with two of three free throws to make it 48-35 with 12:13 left, and Seymour hit a fadeaway to stretch the lead back to 13 at 51-38 with 10:22 left.
While the defense held the Spartans in check, Karon Boyd added points at the rim, going on a personal 6-0 run over 1:09 of game time. Peterson extended the run to 8-0 with a layup with 3:59 to go to put the Bucs up by 18, all but deciding the game.
Peterson now has 1,008 career points at ETSU, 42nd-most for the Buccaneers all-time. Jaden Seymour added 6 points in his return from injury to bring his total to 1,342 points for his ETSU career, still 13th-most in school history.
The Bucs go back on the road Saturday to Wofford, then return to Freedom Hall for their final scheduled home game of 2024-25 against Mercer next Wednesday.
